Marine Spatial Planning in the context of
multiple sea uses, policy arenas and actors
Dr. Andreas Kannen, Institute for Coastal Research, Department Human Dimensions of Coastal Areas
Sea Areas – Multiple Functions and Perceptions
 Increase in number and intensity of sea uses
(cf. Fig. 1);
 Increasing number of actors;
 Actors follow different interests, and
 may have different perceptions of areas.
In other words, different actors may look through a
different lens onto the same area and at the same
issues.
Policy instruments such as Marine Spatial Planning (MSP)
are tools to bring these different perspectives together.
In such a context rational aspects of use and profit
achieved from the sea are coupled with emotional
perceptions, the latter also including unpredictability
and danger [1].
Fig. 1: Existing and perspective uses and nature conservation in the North Sea [2].
Conceptual Model of decision-making processes
Norms and Legislation
Planning / Management
Use Pattern / Environmental Pressures / Achievement of policy objectives
Investment
Decisions / Resource use
Individual actors / stakeholders
Provision of
Ecosystem Services
Valuing of costs and benefits,
beliefs, ethics, problem frame
Ecological System
Fig. 2: Conceptual model describing relevant interactions for the governance
of social-ecological systems [3].
Participation and Involvement
Governance System / Architecture
Figure 2 describes sea use development as a system of social-ecological
interactions from a governance perspective.
 Ecological systems provide ecosystem services;
 Individual actors or specific groups use ecosystem services based on
their specific trade-offs;
 Trade-offs include costs and benefits, but also beliefs, personal values,
ethical considerations and individual perceptions of issue and area;
 In the frame of existing regulations and jurisdictions, the decisions of
actors affect the existing use pattern, the resulting pressures on the
ecosystem and the environmental status;
 Actors and stakeholders are participating in and/or influencing the governance system in discourses, by lobbying or involvement in
networks and can influence the rules applied for decision making;
 In this context power relationships between actors and power resources of individual actors are of significant relevance [4, 5];
 Different forces can dominate the rules and the tools applied, including statutory planning regulations, market forces and civil societal
demands.
Recommendations
 Take into account interactions at different scales, affecting the institutional and social, as well as the ecological domains;
 MSP needs either to develop into a broad and inclusive communication process or to become embedded into such processes;
 Differences in society about the meaning of the sea and different perceptions of pressing issues could probably get better recognised when
MSP is guided by consensus-oriented long-term visions.
References
[1] Gee, K (2010): Offshore wind power development as affected by seascape values on the German North Sea coast. Land Use Policy, Vol. 27, 185-194.
[2] Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie (BSH) (2012): CONTIS, Whole North Sea, Complete Uses and Nature Conservation.
Available at: http://www.bsh.de/en/Marine_uses/Industry/CONTIS_maps/NorthSea_Alluses.pdf, accessed 13th November 2012.
[3] Kannen, A. (2012): Challenges for marine spatial planning in the context of multiple sea uses, policy arenas and actors based on experiences from the
German North Sea. Regional Environmental Change. Available at: http://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs10113- 012-0349-7,
accessed 13th November 2012.
[4] Arts, B. & van Tatenhove, J. (2004): Policy and power: a conceptual framework between the ‘‘old’’ and ‘‘new’’ policy idioms. Policy Science, Vol. 37, 339-356.
[5] Flyvbjerg, B. (1998): Rationality and power: democracy in practice. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 304 pp.
Dr. Andreas Kannen (andreas.kannen@hzg.de)
Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht | Max-Planck-Strasse 1 | 21502 Geesthacht
Phone: +49-(0)4152-87-1874 | Fax: +49-(0)4152-87-2818 | www.hzg.de